Appointment of Dr. Harvey Young as Dean of the BU College of Fine Arts
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
President Brown and I are delighted to share news of the appointment of Dr. Harvey Young as Dean and Professor in the Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA), beginning on January 1, 2018. Earlier this summer, I announced Dr. Young’s selection to be dean following a competitive national-level search. We are pleased now to confirm his appointment following the completion of all formal processes.
Dr. Young comes to BU from Northwestern University, where he previously served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Theatre in the School of Communication, with affiliate appointments in African American Studies, Performance Studies, and Radio/Television/Film. As Chair of Theatre at Northwestern, he oversaw 400 undergraduate students, over 60 graduate students, and 39 faculty members. Dr. Young is a nationally and internationally known theatre historian and a leading advocate for the arts. He has served as editor of the journal Theatre Survey and as a member of several editorial boards, includingJournal of American Theatre and Drama and Theatre Topics. He currently serves as President of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE).
Dr. Young received his M.A. (2000) and Ph.D. (2004) in Theatre from Cornell University. He is a graduate of Yale University where he received his B.A. in Film Studies (1997), and holds an additional M.A. in Humanities (1998) from SUNY at Buffalo, with a concentration in Media Study and Women’s Studies. Dr. Young served on the faculty at Northwestern for 15 years, overseeing a host of key initiatives, including the development of a multi-year strategic plan for his department and the renovation of the university’s performing arts complex. A frequent presenter at national conferences, he is among the country’s most respected voices and scholars in theatre and the black experience, having authored dozens of articles for premier arts journals and published several award-winning books, including Embodying Black Experience: Stillness, Critical Memory, and the Black Body(2010), The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre (2013), and most recently Black Theatre Is Black Life: An Oral History of Chicago Theatre & Dance, 1970-2010 (2014). Dr. Young has been a fellow at Harvard University’s Charles Warren Center and Stanford University’s Center for Comparative Studies on Race & Ethnicity and his scholarship recognized with numerous national honors, including prizes from the American Society for Theatre Research and the National Communication Association.
We are enormously excited to welcome Dr. Young to Boston University. In addition to his administrative position, he holds a faculty appointment as Professor of Theatre in the College of Fine Arts with a secondary appointment as a tenured Professor of English in the College of Arts & Sciences. We believe strongly that his scholarly accomplishments, demonstrated track record of leadership and interdisciplinary collaboration, and energized vision for CFA portend great things for the College, its standard of excellence, and its continued rise as a national destination for artistic study and creation. I know that you join us in warmly welcoming Dr. Young to Boston University.
I would like to express gratitude to the CFA community and to the members of the Dean Search Advisory Committee for their excellent work throughout this process and to Professor Victor Coelho, who served as chair.
Finally, I would like to give special acknowledgement to Dean ad interim Lynne Allen for her outstanding work over the last two-and-a-half years as we undertook the necessary steps to launch a search. Dean ad interim Allen’s steady leadership during this crucial period of transition was essential to this outcome, and I am grateful for her unwavering commitment and dedication to further developing excellence at the College of Fine Arts and Boston University.
Appointment of Dr. Harvey Young as Dean of the BU College of Fine Arts – 1.9.18